Describe for me a 10 X 10 room

[der_kluge]

die_kluge's room is more for story. his action is in puzzle or riddle solving.

That probably sums me up pretty nicely. I love twisting NPC interactions and complicating things (sometimes, making them too complicated). But, I also love puzzles and riddles, though my players aren't exactly keen on them most of the time. There's a fair amount of combat in my game, too, though.

That's a really good point about the sounds/smell/touch/taste aspect. I admit that I need to work on that more.

 

[diaglo]

Read the grey boxed text aloud to the players:

now that's what i'm talking about.

 

[Hand of Evil]

straight forward. dimensions included. and materials. already possible hiding places revealed. as every adventure would look for.

Hand of Evil has a tactical approach. even the lighting is covered. or ways to put the lights out.

But order of things need to be re-worked, not that it matters, should tell the players about the lighting first, then what they see.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Well, it would be probably sound like this:

Der Raum ist 10 x 10 Fuss groß, scheinbar eine Art Büro. Auf dem Schreibtisch liegen einige Dokumente. Ansonsten ist so nichts besonderes zu sehen.

Or, translated:

The room is 10 x 10 feet, it seems to be an offfice-room. Some papers lie on the desk. There seems to nothing else.

I usually don`t describe things very detailed. This might be a weakness.
On the other hand, sometimes any descriptions is worthless. If you say it is an office with a desk in it, most players will have an image, even if it differs from player to player.

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Hand of Evil]

It also depends on location:

The room you enter is dark, the light from your touches flickers the far wall in dancing shadows. The room can be crossed in a few steps and appears the size of a good tavern bed room, not that you have been in many of those. The walls are large mortared stone blocks, moist and gleaming with snail trails, moss can be seen in some places, the room is otherwise empty. The air is fresh, earthy; a breeze moves the hair on your neck. Before you, a tunnel disappears in darkness…

 

[diaglo]

Well, it would be probably sound like this:

Or, translated:


I usually don`t describe things very detailed. This might be a weakness.
On the other hand, sometimes any descriptions is worthless. If you say it is an office with a desk in it, most players will have an image, even if it differs from player to player.

Mustrum Ridcully

yes...but your description is generic. read Hand of Evil's ...dwarf steps or...the last one about entering a tavern bed room.

it addresses the actual party..and thus includes them. gears them towards what they see or feel.


edit: and the problem with the office and desk scenario...is point of reference like you say. this is what i'm trying to get to...at the heart of building on description.

 

[FreeXenon]

Room Description

The putrid scent of rotting flesh and wet rock assails you as you open the door to the next chamber. Your recent dinner of pheasant and cheese tries to find it's way back up but you manage to hold it back with a grunt. In the center of this room lays the decaying body of a slumped over humanoid form now writhing with maggots and flies. *Buzzing, Buzzing* The far wall bears what seems to be shelves that have been carved into the stone which contain books. The 'books' have taken on a mushy consistancy rather like .... bad bannanas. *BBuuzzzzzzz* In the left wall is a large crack from which a small pool of water has found itself lazily surrounding the decaying body. The stagnant pool is centered around the body leaving 1 foot of water on all sides of the rotting corpse. You can see fly larva swimming in the pool and note a dull yet acrid scent being emitted by the pool itself. *Drip, Drip* A small passage revealed in the crack which is roughly 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide forming a triangle like shape with the base on the floor and the apex skewing to the left slightly. The rough edges of this crack seem sharp, almost as if the stone was gnawed by very forceful predatory jaws. You hear the dripping of water echoing from deep within the crack. *Drip, Drip* *zzzzzzzz* You note the feint sound of skittering feet emanating from the crack. As you listen for a moment you determine the skittering is getting closer.

 

[diaglo]

now for the kicker... will your players let you go into such detail? will they interrupt your description and expect you to answer them without completing some key that was obvious...say like a key laying in the middle of the room?

this has to do with tempo and feel or atmosphere created.

imagine Creamsteak's room. action right away. no chance to look around. no chance to do anything but what the players shout out...Creamsteak already filled in their actions for you.

now place those same players in FreeXenon's room....after seeing the corpse do you think they would stay quiet?

 

[VirgilCaine]

As you enter this perfectly cubic room, lit only by a single bright electric bulb, you notice the wood shelves around the top of the room filled with metal boxes painted various shades of green, labeled in white or yellow lettering. The other major feature of the room are wooden waist-high rifle racks sitting on the floor.

The racks are filled with many rifles of various kinds--all have wood grips and stocks. These are obviously not very new designs, there is a mix of lever-action, bolt-action, and semi-automatic pieces. All are in fair to excellent condition, unlocked, unloaded, and unadorned--none have telescopic scopes.

The shelves contain ammunition, stripper clips (or magazines, where appropriate), cleaning kits, and webbing to hold ammunition.

 

[WayneLigon]

What I'd probably say to the players. -- The room you just entered is about ten by ten feet, walls of dressed stone. The mortar has grown crumbly through the decades; some places, you see moss pushing out from between the cracks. Ceiling: twenty feet high, a groined vault. There's a drain in the floor, with some water trickling through it, coming from the corridor that continues out the opposite side.